With the raging controversy over turning pitches amidst the ongoing India-England Test series, opinions remain divided over the role of wickets in England’s last two consecutive defeats. While Michael Vaughan, Andrew Strauss, and Alastair Cook have been strong critiques of the pitch, Sunil Gavaskar, Kevin Pietersen, and Geoffrey Boycott have maintained that the pitch had very little to and it was due to the ‘horrendous’ batting show by both the teams that resulted in a low-scoring game. England Head Coach Chris Silverwood has also suggested that the visitors might lodge an official complaint against the pitch conditions in the third Test.
Amid the row, fans have now turned the clock back to 2018, to smash pitch critics by reminding them of Virat Kohli’s words after India’s loss against South Africa. A video of skipper Virat Kohli’s press conference after a defeat against South Africa in 2018 has gone viral where the Indian captain is heard shunning complaints about the pitch. In the video, Kohli highlighted that India is not complaining over the pitch but instead he has asked his players to go hard on themselves.
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“We are not complaining about Capetown either. The game was finished in three days, one was a washout. So look, we are not complaining about pitches. We are not complaining about conditions, we have come here to play. As I said we have had equal opportunities to win in both the games and that is positive that we can take out of this but I am not sitting here comforting my guys. I am asking everyone to be hard on themselves,” Kohli had said in the video.
Watch the video here:
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And by the way , India has had severe losses playing overseas . I’ve never seen Indians complain the way English fans have done this series . This is Virat Kohli in South Africa . Attitude makes a big differencehttps://t.co/NzChXiCHGN
— ഒകീര (@Okeera4) February 25, 2021
Mate, not able to understand u being so critical. When Indian team gets bowled out cheaply in England then u say they can’t play swing. But when you are not able to play Spin better then you blame the pitch What an irony. 🤔@arpsik @utkarshlokesh @imVkohli @RaviShastriOfc
— True Patriot 🇮🇳 (@SanjeevOberoi17) February 26, 2021
Ashwin smashes pitch critics
Smashing critics complaining of pitches amidst the ongoing India-England Test series, veteran off-spinner Ravichandran Ashwin stated that talks over the surface are ‘getting out of hand’. The Chennai-lad reiterated that instead of talking about the pitch, there should be scrutiny over the quality of play after England’s embarrassing 10-wicket defeat on Thursday in the third Test. Several players from both the camps including England skipper Joe Root has affirmed that the pitch had no part to play but instead it was the batsmen who failed to be at their best amidst the noise over the wicket by several ex-cricketers.
Furthermore, the seasoned off-spinner who reached a remarkable feat in the third match as he scalped his 400th Test wicket also cited a viral video of Virat Kohli to buttress his point. Ashwin referred to the video of the Indian skipper from South Africa, where Kohli asserts that he is not there to talk about the pitch.
“There have been instances, we have been to New Zealand, where both the Tests got over in a total of five days. There is a video doing rounds where Virat Kohli is talking in South Africa and he says I am not here to talk about the pitch. That is how we have been taught to play cricket, that’s why I say let them sell thoughts, buying is our choice,” he asserted.
READ | England Mulling To Lodge Official Complaint Over Pitch After 10-wicket Defeat In 3rd Test
READ | Pietersen Asks England To Stop Whining About Pitch & Introspect, Warns Coach Silverwood
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